Abdu'l-Baha

Abdu'l-Baha (23 May 1844-28 November 1921) was the eldest son of Baha'u'llah and the head of the Baha'i faith from 1892 to 1921, succeeding his father and preceding Shoghi Effendi.

Biography
Abbas was born in Tehran, Persia in 1844 to an aristocratic family, the son of Baha'u'llah. At the age of eight his father was imprisoned along with many other Babists and the family's possessions were looted, leaving them in virtual poverty. The family was later forced to live in exile in Baghdad, where they stayed for nine years; they were later confined in Istanbul, Edirne, and Acre. Abdu'l-Baha remained a prisoner until the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 freed him at the age of 64, and he made many journeys to the West to spread the Baha'i message beyond its Middle Eastern roots. The onset of World War I confined him to Haifa from 1914 to 1918, and he was knighted by the British for his help in averting famine after the war. His Will and Testament laid the foundation for the current Baha'i administrative order, and he died in 1921.